Chapter Text
Altaïr tripped over a wire as he set up his microphone. He had stuff hanging from his arms, mostly wires and in his hands were different kinds of cameras. He cursed under his breath as he straightened back up and kicked the wire away from his foot. Once his microphone was working properly, the camera was next. He looked at the stack in his hands, trying to decide which one to use then settling with the Canon 7D since he was used to it. He could experiment with the other cameras some other time.
"You were supposed to start recording half an hour ago," Malik reminded, leaning against the door frame. "Are you still setting up?"
Altaïr nearly dropped the camera as he was positioning it. "What does it look like? Are Leonardo and Ezio here?"
"They've been here for an hour. They're in the living room waiting for you."
The younger Youtuber finally finished setting up. He straightened up, his back crackling from crouching down too long. "I'm gonna start recording. Tell 'em we're starting in three minutes."
Malik rolled his eyes. "That's what you said an hour ago." But he went out of the room anyway, his conversation with the other Youtube personalities could be heard as Altaïr at down in his chair, making sure his recording software was all set. He tweaked with the camera a little to make sure he had the best angle as his friends walked inside the room.
"It's been a while since you called us to be guests in your videos," Leonardo mused, sitting down on a chair next to Altaïr. "I don't wanna think that it's because you think you're too famous to be around us, Mister King of Youtube."
"Just sit down, Leo," was what Ezio said as he took a seat beside the artist. "Malik, aren't you gonna sit down?"
Malik didn't look up from his phone. "In a bit. I have to upload a video of my own to my channel. I haven't uploaded in a week and my subscribers are begging me to at least give them an update video." And with that, the gamer left the room just as Altaïr started recording.
"Hey, guys! It's AssasSix here and I am here with two very special guests," The golden-eyed man greeted with a usual wave of his hand. He turned to his friends and, with a smile, suggested, "You guys wanna introduce yourselves?"
Leonardo decided to go first. With a rather pathetic wave, he smiled. "Hey, Altaïr's fans. I'm Leonardo, also known as TheCommonArtist from the Youtube collective, Collective Divergence-"
"And I'm Ezio from the Youtube channel, AnimationDominator."
Altaïr looked at Ezio as he raised an eyebrow. "You lazed out on your username, didn't you?"
Ezio elbowed the youngest Youtuber in the ribs. But he nodded, a smile on his face. "You know I did. But anyway, what are we here for, Altaïr?"
"'M glad you asked, Ezio," Altaïr clasped his hands together, a goofy smile on his face. "You two are here because we are going to do a little Q and A."
He turned to the camera and continued. "We actually have another guest coming later on in the video so stay tuned. So I asked you guys on twitter and facebook what you wanted to ask me and my guests and a lot of you have responded so nicely so let's get started."
They got through about twelve questions before Malik had finally decided to join them. By that time, Leonardo was the one answering a question about his art. The gamer took a chair and sat next to Altaïr. The artist didn't seem to notice Malik's arrival, instead he continued to answer a question about his upcoming series on his channel. Malik waved at the camera and waited for Leonardo to finish the question.
"Glad you decided to join us, Malik," Altaïr smiled as he finally turned to the new guest. To the camera, he smiled. "So you guys probably remember Malik, who's also known as GameStorm here on Youtube. I'm pretty sure you guys know him very well. I believe we've had quite a handful of Co-Op games together-"
"Yeah, among other things." Ezio muttered under his breath as he ran a hand over his mouth to make sure Altaïr doesn't hear it. Thankfully, the youngest man didn't as he continued.
"Alright, the next question is actually for you, Malik," Altaïr scrolled down his phone for a while before settling on the question on Twitter. "Is it true that you're not straight?"
Malik covered his eyes with one hand, laughing as he slightly ducked his head. Leo and Ezio had started laughing as well but a lot louder. This time, it was Leonardo who spoke first.
"I love how the question is immediately like 'Are you gay or not' just after Malik just sat down. 'S like...oh my god."
"Well, apparently, shit just got serious, Leo." Malik joked, wiping an imaginary tear from his left eye. Altaïr was scrolling on his phone probably looking for questions or checking messages or whatever while his guests were discussing how the questions got personal really fast for the gamer.
Malik cleared his throat and looked back to the camera, his lips pressed to a thin line. He was trying so hard not to laugh. "Okay, y'really wanna know? And no, Ezio, don't you dare wise-crack me right now. I swear to god, I'll...hack your channel." A round of laughter was shared once more before it died down for the gamer to continue.
"Consider this my 'coming out' confession but...I'm pansexual. Like, it doesn't matter what a person looks like to me. If you make me happy then cool. Next question!"
Leonardo cleared his throat, trying to contain another giggle. "Why're you so eager to change the subject, Mister 'All-Mighty Gamer'?"
"Yeah, tell us more," Altaïr finally chimed in, although he was still looking at his phone. "How did you know you were pansexual? That's the follow-up question, by the way."
It was a long conversation and Malik knew that Altaïr would be bitching about the editing later so this must've been a topic that the younger man wanted to know more about. And besides, this bit probably won't even make it to the final video so it didn't matter. So his explanation was finished and they moved on to the more...personal questions.
Ezio didn't receive a really personal one, though, which everyone else was envious about.
'@PrettyBoyEzio: Will you ever hold a fan event or something similar in the future?'
Ezio rubbed his chin with the palm of his hand as he thought of an answer. "Maybe I will. I mean, it has been something I've been thinking about for well over a year now but just not this year, though. Cause I have a lot of projects to work on, I still make the intro and outro animations for these dorks-" He pointed to Altaïr and Malik. "And I wanna really save up for it and make it special so yeah. Definitely having a fan event some time in the future."
With a nod, they proceeded to the next question. Though, it made them wish they didn't.
'@LeonardoD.V.: Would you ever draw Ezio naked, given the chance?'
Leo took a calming breath, chuckles could be heard once in a while as he did so. "I don't want to but an artist has to work on nudity at one point or another. But no, I don't want to."
"Why the fuck not, Leo?!" Ezio protested. "I'm pretty good."
"You're impossible to negotiate with when we plan out your animations. I don't even know why I ask for your help."
Malik decided to intervene. "Ezio's animations are pretty well-done, you have to admit, Leo." The artist shrugged and apologized to Ezio, which the latter didn't accept because there was nothing to apologize for. Before things got too dramatic, thankfully they moved on with the questions.
'@TheEagleAssasSix: Is it true that you and @GameStormBringer fucked each other or have since you do share an apartment now?'
"These just get super personal and just 'in-your-face' about it, don't they?" Altaïr mused as his friends burst into laughter once more. Malik almost fell off his chair but he had one of his hands on the floor to keep him from face-planting onto the carpeted floor. Altaïr waited for the laughter to subside before he answered the question.
"Yeah, we still do actually," He admitted, not knowing that Malik was looking at him while he was busy talking. "I mean, we should because we're fucking...boyfriends and shit."
And at that moment, a record scratch would've been an appropriate sound effect. Ezio and Leonardo looked absolutely taken by surprise by the laid-back confession, like it wasn't a big deal. And they were sure that anyone who would be watching the final product would be as shocked as they were. Especially with how chill Altaïr seemed to be about it. Like right now, he was looking through his phone again for another question and Malik was trying to peek into the younger Youtuber's phone all boyfriend-like.
"What? That's it?"
Altaïr and Malik looked up to see Ezio absolutely confused. So Malik decided to be the one to explain.
"We actually started dating a few years ago, almost three years ago in fact. We didn't want anyone to know because we could just imagine the online articles being 'Biggest Youtube celebrities' and shit like that about us going out. And we didn't really want to have people asking us questions about each other. We both agreed that what happens between us behind the camera is...our business."
Leonardo had to lean a bit to look at Malik properly. "Then why now? Why change your mind?"
Altaïr was biting on his nails and Malik had to slap his hand away to get him to stop. Eventually it was Altaïr who answered the question:
"We decided that we've been in the closet for so long and, personally, it was making me feel guilty because I always say in my videos that my viewers should never feel like they have to hide themselves and I thought it was hypocrisy because I'm not practicing what I preach, as they say. I wanted to come out for so long, I was actually considering to have Malik and I to have a proper 'Coming Out' video or whatever. This Q and A was sort of planned but we wanted to come out just...casually, y'know? Cause there are a lot of people on Youtube who accuse Youtubers that come out as doing it for attention or whatever. We didn't want to make it look so professional and serious. We wanted to stick to the light-hearted atmosphere our channels have."
Malik looked at the camera. "So, expect a new video coming next week from both of us about this. Hopefully, this won't change anything but hey, it happens."
Ezio and Leonardo had to nod at that. They knew what it was like to be accused of faking a coming out video for attention. Malik and Altaïr knew that so maybe that's why they didn't want to come out like Leo and Ezio did. They moved on with the questions, Altaïr choosing a few cheery ones so everyone wouldn't feel so tense. Eventually, they reached the last question, which was addressed to Altaïr and it was a questioned he got way too often:
'What/Who was your inspiration for getting started on Youtube?'
Altaïr was hesitant at first but he decided to answer it anyway, for the sake of the audience. "Actually, Malik was the very first channel I was subscribed to-"
"Why am I not surprised?" Leo chimed in, rewarded by a few chuckles here and there from his friends.
"Shut up," Altaïr cleared his throat to stop a smile creeping on his face. "It was back in my 'not really uploading content but just using my account to subscribe to my favorite people' phase. I was subscribed to him when he just hit five hundred thousand subscribers. And the funniest thing I remember was seeing Malik's really old video, I don't know if some of you guys saw it but he was playing the guitar and at the end of the video, I was kinda sad because he said that it was for his girlfriend. Is that bad?"
Malik shook his head, the memory of the video still fresh on his mind but he let Altaïr finish.
"I think he meant for the video to be private because he was sending it to his girlfriend back then but I think he realized what happened when it was finally uploaded. So I think there were very few people who saw that video because he made it private after a day. But I still remember that he was playing...a male cover of 'Thousand Miles' by Vanessa Carlton and I thought that it was really cool."
"And that's when you realized you had a crush on him?" Ezio asked, coughing a little from all the laughing he'd done.
Altaïr nodded, cheeks slightly red. "I actually have it saved on my desktop, somewhere in my documents. Like, whenever I have to have my computer reformatted, I always save that video on a USB or some shit. I don't care if that video is what's causing all these problems, I am willing to spend thousands of dollars to have my computer repaired. And a lucky computer repair guy's kids will be put through college. Win-win situation."
"Can't believe you fucking remember that shit, Altaïr," Malik confessed. "But you better not post that video anywhere because- Oh, there's probably another factor about that video that attracted you. Tell them what it was."
Altaïr covered his face as he laughed, Ezio and Leonardo making side commentaries about the situation and Malik just trying to get Altaïr to spill the beans.
"He was..." A few more giggles erupted from the King of Youtube's mouth. "He was fucking topless, too."
Malik nodded in agreement, Ezio and Leonardo laughed even harder, even kicking at the floor. Malik was thankful he and Altaïr took the apartment on the ground floor.
"Really, Malik? Topless?" Leonardo questioned. "Why? Why, even, would you think-"
Malik shrugged and made random hand gestures. "I was young and stupid back then, alright? Don't judge me!"
Altaïr clapped his hands once, the sound loud and sudden enough that the three guests became quiet.
"Guys, I'm sorry but that's all the time we have. This video's gonna be a bitch to edit later so say your goodbyes and promote your channel or projects or whatevs. Leonardo, you go first."
Leonardo nodded and turned to the camera. "Be sure to check out my channel and the Collective Divergence for speed drawings and tutorials on art. Altaïr will put all of our social links below so be sure to check 'em out."
"And guys, to those who are following my little cartoon project," Ezio started as he tied his hair back in a small ponytail. "Keep updated on my Tumblr and Twitter accounts because I will be finishing the next episode by this week and it will be uploaded this weekend so be on the look out for that."
Malik rubbed at his eyes for a second before doing a little self-promotion of his own. "Until Dawn will be finished next week so be updated. And for those who are asking me on Tumblr and Facebook: Yes, my Wattpad story, Year with no Light, has been discontinued. More about that on my channel so check it out."
Once Malik finished, Altaïr wrapped the video up with, "Thanks so much for watching and I'll see you in my next video! Bye!"